Calzaghe discusses life away from the ring

When Joe Calzaghe made his first appearance as a professional boxer he could never in his wildest dreams have imagined that one day he would be mentioned in the same breath as Rocky Marciano. Both fighters have Italian heritage and were renowned for their aggressive style but it is their perfect records that put them in the history books.

Like Marciano, Calzaghe fought everyone put in front of him and managed to retire with an unblemished 46-0 record. The ‘Pride of Wales’ even became a two-weight world champion when successfully stepping up from super middleweight to light heavyweight. The Welshman also held the WBO super middleweight title for more than a decade, defending it on numerous occasions, against the best the division had to offer.

It has now been two years since the 38-year-old announced his retirement and unlike many other boxers, he has no thoughts of getting back in the ring. “It was quite easy for me to walk away from boxing as I beat the biggest names in the division.

“You always have that carrot dangled in front of your face but there are more important things than money. To come out on top and retire undefeated was amazing.”

Throughout his 15-year career many critics suggested that Calzaghe was avoiding the top fighters. However, his last two bouts quashed any such suggestions as he took on two legends of boxing in Roy Jones Jnr and Bernard Hopkins. The father of two even went over to the States to beat them in their own backyard.

“To fight Hopkins in Vegas and Roy Jones [Jnr] in Madison Square Gardens was simply amazing. They would definitely be my stand out memories. I think in some ways I had already decided to retire after the Kessler fight so these were the icing on the cake.”

The fight with Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler was one of the biggest of Calzaghe’s career. The previous year he had destroyed American prospect Jeff Lacy over twelve brutal rounds. Many experts had the Brit as an underdog but Calzaghe produced an outstanding performance dominating from start to finish.

Facing Kessler at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in front of 50,000 fans, Calzaghe came through a war and in the process added the WBA and WBC titles to his WBO super middleweight crown, thus becoming the undisputed champion. A fight that the now happily retired fighter claims was one of his best performances.

“Kessler was one of my greatest nights as I finally got to unify the titles. I had been waiting so long for that night. When I beat Chris Eubank in 1997 I had no idea that it would take so long before I had the opportunity to finally become the undisputed champion.”

So what does the retired champion think of the current crop of boxers in the division he dominated for more than a decade? “I have been keeping an eye on the Super Six tournament and in particular Carl Froch. You have to give it up to Carl as he always gives value for money and ends up in a war. I actually enjoy watching his fights and I will be very interested in his upcoming fight with Arthur Abraham.”

Froch had been involved in a war of words with Calzaghe, but the Newport man enjoys the fact that fighters try and bait him. “I am honoured that these guys still call me out even though I am retired. It is better these people still remember me than forget about me.

“It shows they respect me and what I achieved in the game and they are just looking for a payday. I smile about it as I’m not interested anymore. It might be a little different if I was a welterweight and could get �10 million fighting Floyd Mayweather, but I think I’m a little big to make that weight,” jokes Calzaghe.

Since he made the decision to quit fighting Calzaghe has tried his hand at being a boxing promoter and even gave reality television a go as he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing. Unfortunately his footwork in the ring didn’t translate to the dance floor and he admits he was “out of my comfort zone.”

Both he and his dad Enzo, Joe’s long time trainer, have taken a brake from boxing and having run a couple of promotional shows, have decided that it is not for them. Spending much of his time in London, Calzaghe is now looking for a new career. Still not in his 40th year, he wants to sink his teeth into a new project.

“I am now trying to get into acting. It’s something that I have always wanted to do even when I was boxing so now I have the opportunity. I am spending a lot of time in London taking acting classes so I really want to give it a go.”

If Calzaghe shows the same natural talent and determination for acting that he had for boxing then it may not be long before we see him on the silver screen.

Joe is the face of sports brand Jacamo www.jacamo.co.uk